Soft Pretzels Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

1/2 tsp. brown sugar

1 dash salt

1 1/2 cups 110 degree water

4 cups bread flour

1 Tbls. baking soda

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup melted real butter

toppings (see Notes, below)

Preparation

-Combine first 4 ingredients; allow to rest for 5 minutes. -Stir flour to mixture and knead for 5 minutes. -Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. -Divide dough into 8-12 equal-size pieces; roll each piece into a rope; shape each rope into a pretzel. -In a shallow dish, stir baking soda into warm water; dip pretzels into mixture (or brush mixture over pretzels); lay coated pretzel onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. -Bake in a 550 degree oven for 8 minutes, or until golden brown. -Brush melted butter onto hot pretzels. Notes: For salted pretzels, sprinkle with pretzel salt or Kosher salt. For cinnamon-sugar pretzels, stir 2 Tbls. honey into the melted butter before brushing on pretzels, then sprinkle with a mixture of 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon. For Parmesan pretzels, sprinkle with a mixture of 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tsp. garlic salt; serve with marinara sauce.